Shortly after Meredith Borowiec revealed she had given birth to a baby boy in a toilet and tossed him in a Dumpster on Oct. 19, 2010, and had a miscarriage the previous year, police began an exhaustive investigation into her other pregnancies.

Det. Christina Witt testified on Thursday that the following day she and other investigators were briefed about revelations from the interview with Borowiec in a hospital bed just hours after the newborn boy was saved.

Witt agreed with defence lawyer Andrea Serink it was discussed what was required to show attempted murder, that police needed to show premeditation and by doing that show there were similar prior incidents.

“I needed to show the history of other pregnancies,” Witt testified.

Witt said information about Borowiec’s alleged pregnancies in 2007 and 2009 came from witnesses, but she needed medical records to back that up. That meant searching records from clinics throughout Calgary and in Ontario, where she previously lived.

“There were clinics we believed Ms. Borowiec had attended,” said Witt.

It would take more than a year to piece the puzzle together and bring Borowiec in for a second interview to verify what police believed happened. As a result, Borowiec was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, for the alleged deaths of newborns in 2008 and 2009. She is now on trial on those charges.

Borowiec also faces a charge of attempted murder for the baby she discarded into the Dumpster. That case will go to trial in the fall.

Witt said she initially attempted to obtain records under the Health Information Act, but was advised police did not have those privileges. Only the Chief Crown prosecutor could do so, so that was the route that was taken.

It was eventually discovered where Borowiec had had medical treatment and the records were subpoenaed.

“We had discussions of what we had collected so far on other pregnancies and whether we could prove those babies were born alive or not,” Witt said. “It was difficult to prove.”

She said police found out from the investigation and interviews with witnesses that Borowiec had a miscarriage at a doctor’s office and possibly a procedure at Foothills Hospital following a miscarriage.

Borowiec was finally interviewed a second time in November 2011 and subsequently charged with the murders. Their remains have never been found.

Earlier, a paramedic testified Borowiec was reluctant to be medically assessed after giving birth to a baby boy and throwing it in a Dumpster.

“She was sitting on the steps when I first met her. When I asked her (what happened), she said she just had a heavy period, so I assessed her vital signs,” Mark Westby told Crown prosecutor Jayme Williams.

“She was guarding herself, so I wasn’t able to get in that well. I had to get a better idea of what was going on.”

Westby said he had been given information to police that Borowiec was the mother of the newborn in the trash bin outside her apartment building at 501 40th Ave. N.W. He was concerned about post-partem problems and whether she was a danger to herself or others.

It wasn’t until they went into the ambulance, said Westby, that Borowiec admitted she was the mother and had given birth at noon — some two hours earlier.

Westby said he observed stretch marks on Borowiec’s abdomen, which seemed quite soft. He said she also seemed stressed and her heart rate and blood pressure were a bit high, so it was important under the circumstances that she be taken to hospital for further observation.

The woman also admitted to him she had a miscarriage in 2009, around the time for which she is charged with one of the murders.

Earlier, child care worker Reena Hussein testified she spoke with Borowiec prior to the police interview in her bed at Foothills Hospital later that day, which she observed.

She then served an apprehension order on the accused following the interview, which would not allow her any access to the baby boy.

“We spoke to her about safety concerns of the baby,” said Hussein, a first responder for the Child At Risk Response Team, a joint initiative of Alberta Child and Family Services and Calgary Police Service.

“We decided about child abandonment and lack of the necessities of life issues being the key issues,” Hussein said. “So I served Meredith with a copy of the notice of apprehension after the interview. And that there would be no access between her and the child.”

Hussein said she also visited the baby and took pictures of him in the neo-natal intensive care unit at Foothills Hospital and advised medical staff that if there were any medical problems, they were required to call her department.

She said she did not advise Borowiec about the apprehension order until after the interview, as she did not want to contaminate the investigation by police.”

“We were working to determine if the child was at risk if under parental care,” Hussein said.

The evidence is being heard during a voir dire at the trial, to determine if any statements made by Borowiec at the scene and in police interviews were voluntary.

The defence is contesting the voluntariness of their client’s statements, as well as the evidence regarding the baby being thrown in the Dumpster, which the Crown wants to use as similar-fact evidence to show it is likely she is guilty of the murder charges.

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